During the Second World War, coal in mainland Europe became extremely scarce and expensive as more and more mining areas fell into areas of conflict - and that shortage led to one of the most extraordinary experiments in railway history. Although large parts of the Swiss Federal Railways network were electrified and powered by cheap hydro-electric energy from the mountains, small 0-6-OT steam locos were retained around big stations to save the expense of building new electric shunters. In an attempt to sec if the effects of the coal shortage could be alleviated, a trial was conceived in the early-1940s under which two such pilot engines were converted into electro-steam locomotives.
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